Ruben Amorim offers Lisandro Martinez injury update and aims subtle dig at Man Utd stars

Ruben Amorim blasted his Manchester United side following their defeat by Crystal Palace - and also offered an update on Lisandro Martinez's worrying injury.

United were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, with Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring two second-half goals to claim all three points for the visitors. It is the Red Devils fifth home defeat since Amorim took charge, more than during Jose Mourinho's entire reign.

Amorim had chosen to use Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine, but the experiment badly backfired for the hosts, who had just two shots on target. Eberechi Eze's introduction from the bench changed the game for the Eagles. He played a key rol in the first goal, with his free-kick leading to Maxence Lacroix crashing a header off the bar. Mateta was the first to react to turn the ball home.

Mateta then sealed a win in the final minute of normal time when he tapped home from Munoz's square ball. United's day went from bad to worse when Martinez was stretchered off with a horror leg injury.

With United losing for the eighth time since he took charge, Amorim pulled no punches in his assessment of his side's performance. And he also admitted that Martinez's injury appears to be serious.

"The result is really bad. The performance was a little bit better than the last games. We controlled the transitions quite well for Crystal Palace. We suffered two goals that we can avoid and the injury on Lisandro Martinez was tough for the team," Amorim told Sky Sports.

"We are going to see in the next days but I think it is a serious situation. He is not only a great player but a strong character in the dressing room. He felt it and when you are a player, you know when it is something serious.

Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images) Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

"We are here to help him in this difficult moment like he has helped us. It's normal for the fans to feel negative, it is a hard season for them but football can change in certain moments. I will prepare the next game and move forward. Better things will come."

United confirmed the signing of Patrick Dorgu ahead of the defeat, with the transfer window having another day to run. But Amorim insisted his focus was on the FA Cup fourth round clash with Leicester on Friday.

"That is with a lot of people in the club, I focus on the next game. During the game, I felt that the team did some things well. We suffered two goals that we can avoid, which is really disappointing today," he told Match of the Day.

"We take some things from the performance but not the result. It is a hard season at this moment, the players try different things to improve. We need to move forward. We had more possession, more connections, we created chances but we couldn't score and that was the difference today.

"I didn't feel that but it is difficult to play here because we want to please our fans. This season is going to be like that, I said it since the first day."

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